Transcribing the Past

  The 1970's were a dangerous time to be politically active in Italy. Neo Fascist paramilitaries were mounting a prolonged bombing campaign killing many. As an extra sting the fascists often posed as left wing guerrilla's in an attempt to provoke and justify an authoritarian crackdown. There were leftist paramilitaries most well known were the Rosa brigades, but they tended to focus on kidnappings and assassinations instead of bombing public buildings and train stations. After one such bombing  Giuseppe Pinelli a local railroad worker and Anarchist activist was arrested in a dragnet. Whilst in police custody he went through a fourth floor window. The police maintained that he accidentally went through the window of his own accord, but the official story was so full of holes an entire play was written debunking it . In 2001 a new investigation found three members of a Neo Fascist group responsible for the bombing that Giuseppe Pinelli had been detained for. So in a...

  In 1981 tensions over racist police officers abusing and harassing local black Liverpudlians exploded with a riot that for a few weeks managed to drive the police out of the area and force the government to respond and look into concessions. However, with the use of CS (Tear) gas for the first time in the UK and reinforcements enabled the police to take back control of the streets. Racism in policing hasn't gone away and riots against police harassment would become more common in the 80's. And of course the response to police killings of coloured people has sparked the Black Lives Matter movement in the US and UK. Transcription [Program Producer Max Pierson] Hello and welcome to the History Hour podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pierson. Next, we move forward in time and onto the streets of Liverpool, in the English Northwest. In the 1980s the industrial and economic changes introduced by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had led to conside...

  Link  https://youtu.be/xBcTOje1v4s The Peterloo Massacre Transcript Note: Melvyn Bragg interrupts a lot in this segment and often appears to do so without a fully formed question in mind. So, I've dealt with this in two ways, either typing out what I believe he meant to say based on the context of the discussion and the replies, or failing that cut out the interruptions.  In addition while this talk on Peterloo is important particularly as it relates the other events of political and economic change that surround the meeting on St. Petersfield it does still contain some myths which I've decided to respond to via footnotes. Melvyn Bragg: Hello in 1819 Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote “I met Murder on the way— He had a mask like Castlereagh— Very smooth he looked, yet grim; Seven blood-hounds followed him: All were fat; and well they might Be in admirable plight, For one by one, and two by two, He tossed them human hearts to chew ...

  It happened again, a few days ago the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin (though at least one other officer just stood there and watched it happen) in Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota appalled many. This is not a rare occurrence, immediately after the news became well known the families of many other victims of police murder -the majority of them African Americans- in the recent past came forward to share their accounts too. This time however, the people of the Twin Cities had had enough and massive street demonstrations erupted which the police met with even more violence. Only this time the police over estimated their ability to beat and intimidate the population, they quickly lost control and by nightfall they had lost a precinct which burned into the night. Solidarity protests have broken out across the United States, many of which are also being met with military style violence from the police and in some cases elements of the national guard a...